Alabama

Grandman attracts scores of triathletes to Fairhope (photo gallery)

FAIRHOPE, Alabama — When Sam Martin of Hattiesburg, Miss., was the first one out of the water, the first one on his bike, as well as the first runner across the finish line in the eighth annual Springhill Medical Center Grandman Triathlon at the Fairhope Municipal Pier on Saturday, a casual observer would have thought he had the competition wrapped up.

However, he was quick to point out that that was not necessarily the case — especially when the competition was based on seeded times in the swim, and competitors started the swim portion every three seconds.

"It’s all going to depend on the final results," he said. "If there is someone who is a faster runner or swimmer, things will change."

How right he was.

In the end, Hudson, despite being the first out of the water because he started in an earlier flight, finished only third overall. The overall winner, Pensacola’s William Striepeck, had an overall best time of 1 hour, 16 minutes, and 18 seconds — which included a time of 1:38 for the 1/3-mile swim.

Stripeck, an instructor at the Naval Aviation Schools Command who was running his second Grandman, said the course — which included a steep hill at the start of the 18.6-mile bike ride and the 3.3-mile run — was challenging, but rewarding.

"It was a tough course, and there was some tough competition," he said. "But there was enough shade to prevent overheating. The swim was a lot better than last year. Last year, I did okay, but it was soon after I competed in a half-ironman, and I wasn’t in the best shape."

Striepeck said the hill at the transitional point for the bike ride and the run was one of those things that one simply could not avoid.

"It was one of those things where you realize that your heart rate will skyrocket," he said. "I had to drop my pace to get my bearings."

Stephanie Smith of Metarie, La., was the overall female winner in 1:18:43. Her stages were 9:51 for the swim, 1:45:00 for the bike ride, and 22:41 for the run. Biloxi’s Barbara Kerby — the top masters female — was second (1:28:13) and Debbie Carey of Germantown, Tenn., was third (1:26.44).

"I was nervous before the swim because everybody talked about how shallow the water was," said Smith, whose fiance’ is from the Fairhope area. "The weather was perfect, and I think I do better when the weather is cooler."

Smith, who ran the Grandman for the first time and is trying to get into the professional triathlon ranks, said that with the way the competition was set up, it was tough to gauge how she would finish, especially with the setup of the swim stage.

"It’s hard to tell where you are," she said. "The way it was (set up) it was like a time trial, with the swimmers going every three seconds."

Hudson, who was the overall masters’ winner, finished eight seconds behind runner-up Darrell Williams of Daphne (who had an overall time of 1:16.29). He said that he was impressed with the way the event was handled.

"It’s a great family event, with a lot of good competition," he said. "Me, my wife, and my brother do this event every year."

Another triathlete who wanted to make it a family event was Mobile native Gabe Peck III, who played football at McGill-Toolen and played with Brett Favre at Southern Miss. Peck is a member of the Atlanta Triathlon Club, which won the national title last year.

"It’s my third year doing this," said Peck, who competed in the Clydesdale Division and is hoping to qualify for the nationals. "I wanted to come here so my dad could watch me race."

About 800 competitors participated in the event, which benefited Mobile BayKeeper, the Gulf Coast Area Triathletes, Camp Rap-A-Hope, and the Baldwin County Trailblazers. Casi Callaway of Mobile BayKeeper said that putting on the event takes a lot of time, but is the worth the effort.

"It started off as the hardest thing that I have done in my life," she said. "But each of the groups that we benefit contributes volunteers, and we work on this year-round. Today, we got a lot of support from the spectators, and with all the volunteers we have, there was always somebody around the competitors at all times."

Fairhope’s Johnny Harrison and Orange Beach’s Nancy King Aston were the top Grand Masters finishers with times of 1:18:40 and 1:32:26 respectively.